HOWE ROOM: MLA braves tunnel tie-up after storm

Retired senator John Buchanan, with wife Mavis after one of his wins as premier of Nova Scotia, took issue with his Wikipedia page recently. (FILE)

MLA Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville) spent a little more — actually, a lot more — time in the Lincoln Tunnel than he would have liked during a recent trip to New Jersey.

He and other delegates attending the Council of State Governments-Eastern Regional Conference were headed to a reception in Manhattan when they ran into a bit of trouble under the Hudson River.

“Uhh, yeah,” the Dipper chuckled. “Sometimes, I get a little claustrophobic, let’s say, and we got stuck underneath one of the tunnels for about 45 minutes.

“Not that I went into panic mode or anything, but I was talking with one of the congresswomen from Maryland and all of a sudden, I kind of started getting a little warm.”

The accident that caused him to be trapped was eventually cleared and he says he made it through OK, despite the 10-kilometre trip taking 2 hours.

However, it almost got worse at the reception.

When an elevator he was riding in “stopped” at the selected floor, it bounced like it had landed on a spring. Whynott and others scrambled out, but the next group that got in it ended up being stuck for close to an hour.

Whynott, House Speaker Gordie Gosse, Health and Wellness Minister David Wilson, Liberal Andrew Younger and Tory Chris d’Entremont were the Nova Scotia delegates at the meeting, which included legislators from the northeastern states and eastern provinces.

Gosse said he ended up chairing the meeting in place of New Jersey Sen. Jim Whelan, who was still dealing with property damage from hurricane Sandy.

Cost of the trip wasn’t available. MLAs could be lining up for a chance to go to next year’s meeting, to be held in Puerto Rico.

The meeting was reportedly productive and informative, including sessions on climate change and the U.S. fiscal cliff, but Gosse could have really livened things up with his Whitney Pier Wallop.

But the Speaker, a non-drinker from the Cape Breton neighbourhood, saved the dark rum concoction for the annual Speaker’s Christmas party at Province House on Wednesday.

Evans and Doherty and a trio of carollers entertained while the crowd of government staffers and MLAs of all party stripes mingled and snacked on treats from Jamaican patties to mini-fish and chips.

Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Cecil Clarke, himself a former Tory MLA, last week hired away communications director Christina Lamey, who will return home to the island to work as his communications adviser.

As well, Chad Bowie, recently president of the PC Youth, is headed to federal Conservative party office in Ottawa. Both are headed to their new positions in the new year.

Jennifer Edge, also a Cape Bretoner with roots in Englishtown, steps in as acting communications director. The Mount Saint Vincent public-relations graduate has been in the caucus office for close to two years, after working in public affairs with energy giant Syncrude Canada Ltd. in Alberta.

She says there’s no timeline for hiring new staff, and an assessment of the skills needed is being done.

Apologies to former premier John Buchanan for accidentally shortchanging him on consecutive majorities won, in this space last week.

Fortunately, no one threw that information on the four-time majority winner’s Wikipedia page, where Buchanan did find something of concern recently.

Not a frequenter of the site himself, he said a friend alerted him to an entry that said he’d received close to $1 million in secret payments while premier to help him with personal bank debts.

Wrong, said the retired senator.

“I wish I had received $1 million from the trust fund,” said Buchanan. “It certainly wasn’t $1 million.”

The entry was changed to $431,290, which Buchanan said was correct.

In the early 1990s, RCMP looked into a trust fund set up to help cover Buchanan’s real estate debts, but found no basis for charges.